In the construction of modern buildings, there is erected a steel skeleton. It is necessary to have floors in the building. The floors are generally concrete floors. Also, in other forms of construction, steel buildings will have steel roofing.
In the construction of buildings, the steel skeleton has steel beams. Steel forms are placed on the steel beams and also the supports for the floors. Then, freshly mixed concrete is poured onto the steel forms and is allowed to cure. In order to have concrete floors, it is necessary to definitely position the steel forms onto the beams and also onto the supports of the steel forms. Further, it is necessary to definitely position the steel forms with respect to each other. The steel forms are typically corrugated sheets of steel. On one side of the sheet of steel, there is an upright edge. On the other side of the sheet of steel, there is an envelope to receive the upright edge of the adjacent sheet of steel.
The steel forms are laid on the beams and on the supports for the steel forms so that the envelope of the first steel form receives the upright edge of the second steel form, and, likewise, the envelope of the second steel form receives the upright edge of the third steel form. This is repeated until there are sufficient steel forms on the beams and on the supports of the steel forms to receive the freshly mixed, uncured concrete.
The adjacent steel forms are bonded together. At the present time, the adjacent steel forms are manually bonded together by a manually operated crimping tool. The operator actuates the crimping tool and makes a dent in each side of the envelope of the steel form and also in the upright edge of the next adjacent steel form. The dent definitely positions the steel forms with respect to each other. Also, a welder may tack weld the steel form to the beam so as to definitely position the steel forms with respect to the beams. After the steel forms have been positioned on the beams and onto the supports for the steel forms, and also definitely positioned with respect to each other, uncured concrete can be poured onto the top of the steel forms. The weight of the uncured concrete assists in positioning the steel forms onto the beams. In time, the concrete cures and bonds to the steel forms so as to position the steel forms onto the beams.
As previously stated, the operator manually crimps the adjacent steel forms to each other. The operator can take a crimping tool and walk on the steel forms and crimp together the adjacent steel forms. The manual crimping of the adjacent steel forms is a slow process since the operator cannot rapidly operate the manual crimping tool. Further, in time, the operator tires after operating the manual crimping tool and slows down in his work.
A similar process is also involved with the formation of structural steel roofing. Unlike with structural steel flooring, there is no concrete poured onto the upper surface of the roofing. Since the roofing panels are joined together in the same manner as the decking panels, it is important that the joints are secured together so as to prevent one panel from lifting off the other. It is also important to prevent the panels from shifting laterally with respect to each other along the seam. In view of the inherent forces created by ambient conditions, such as wind, there is a weakness associated with crimped joints. As a result, supplementary operations must be carried out so as to properly join the roofing sections together. These supplemental operations can include welding and screwing of the seam to the extent necessary to satisfy the shear strength requirements of the roofing. Ultimately, the roof sections must be joined together with sufficient integrity to prevent the panels from separating from each other or shifting laterally under the presence of high wind conditions.
In the past, various patents have issued with respect to such crimping tools. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,397, issued on Jul. 30, 1985 to R. Pratt, describes a crimping tool which is power operated. This crimping tool has two movable links. There is a stud on the lower end of one of the movable links and a recess on the lower end of the other movable link. A power-operated movable piston is operatively connected to a plunger. The plunger connects with suitable toggles and, in turn, the toggles connect with an appropriate movable link. The operator can control the application of power to the power-operated movable piston so as to move the piston and thereby move the plunger and thereby move the toggles and the associated two movable links. The dies located on the end of the crimping tool will provide a power-driven crimp to the adjoining sections of steel decking and roofing. Unfortunately, this device is only used for crimping the upward exposed “male” lip with the female inverted “U”-shaped lip. The seam is crimped at periodic intervals by this crimping tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,932, issued on Apr. 10, 2001, to J. R. Parker, describes a power-assisted combination shear used for forming structural louvers in the crimped seam of structural steel decking. This shear includes a frame supporting a pair of jaws which are opened and closed by means of an operator-controlled pneumatic cylinder. One jaw terminates in a blade while the other jaw has a corresponding die member. The blade and the die have undercut reliefs in the root portions, which permit the louver to be formed without breaking through to the edge of the seam. The louver comprises a sheared portion in the form of a bowed tab bridging a corresponding window formed in the seam by the shearing of the tab. The interference between the louver and window provides a substantial increase in the lateral resistance (shear strength) of the crimped seam. As such, the device is intended to eliminate the need to additionally weld or screw the seams of the steel decking. U.S. Publication No. 2001/0010168, published on Aug. 2, 2001, is closely related to U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,932, and describes a method of securing work pieces together through the unique configuration of the jaws of the power-assisted combination shear. Similarly, U.S. Publication No. 2001/0039704, published on Nov. 15, 2001, describes an arrangement similar to that of the prior publication and U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,932. In particular, this patent shows the actual steel structure as having the arrangement of louvers connected in an overlying and interconnected relationship.
Unfortunately, there are many problems associated with the prior art patents to Parker and the prior art patent to Pratt. Fundamentally, whenever it is necessary to have two pivotable arms for the purpose of forming the crimp or the louvers, there is a great potential for misalignment of the arms. Each of the linkages associated with each of the pivotable arms must move in perfect coordination so as to achieve the proper operation. It is known that over time, the various bearings and connections between the linkage members can wear after repeated usage. As the tolerances change between the respective dies associated with the pair of pivotal arms, there is a strong possibility of misalignment between the dies. When a misalignment occurs, the effective seal between the deck sections and roofing sections can become compromised. Furthermore, the use of a pair of pivotable arms can require additional maintenance and repair. Often, the application of power will be more to one side of the leading die arrangement while less on the opposite side of the mating die arrangement. Once again, an insufficient and inappropriate cut louver or ineffective crimp, can occur. Additionally, in the case of the Parker patent, and the associated applications, the particular dies associated with forming the louver are unnecessarily complicated. Ultimately, if any of the surfaces associated with the die of the Parker patent should become worn or distorted with time, the louver will have an undesired configuration or may ineffectively join the sections of steel decking together. The Parker patent relies on a blade-type male die for the formation of the cuts into the female die. It is known that such arrangement can become dull with time and use.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a connection for decking sections which requires reduced cutting forces to connect the sections together.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for connecting decking sections together which produces bearing surfaces for resisting shear movements of the deck panels.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of connecting decking sections together which produces diaphragm shear values equal to or better than seam welding procedures.
It is a further object to the present invention to provide a method of joining decking sections together which reduces installation costs.
It is a further object to the present invention to provide a method for securing decking sections together which can be carried out with a tool that is operable by unskilled personnel.
It is a further object to the present invention to provide a method of connecting decking sections together which produces more seam attachments per hour than welding procedures.
It is a further object to the present invention to provide a method for connecting decking sections together which reduces health issues for installers and other personnel.
It is a further object to the present invention to provide a decking assembly which effectively resists vertical loads.
It is still a further object to the present invention to provide a decking assembly which allows operators and inspectors to easily verify proper connections between the sections.
It is still a further object to the present invention to provide a method of joining decking sections together which avoids the requirements for touch-up painting and eliminates burn marks.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.